Liquid crystal display devices have been applied to, for example, watches, calculators, a variety of measuring equipment, panels used in automobiles, word processors, electronic notebooks, printers, computers, television sets, clocks, and advertising boards. Representative examples of types of liquid crystal display devices include a TN (twisted nematic) type, an STN (super twisted nematic) type, and VA (vertical alignment) and IPS (in-plane switching) types involving use of a TFT (thin film transistor). Liquid crystal compositions used in such liquid crystal display devices need to satisfy the following requirements: being stable to external elements such as moisture, air, heat, and light; having a liquid crystal phase in a wide temperature range mainly including room temperature as much as possible; having a low viscosity; and enabling a low driving voltage. In addition, liquid crystal compositions are composed of several to tens of compounds to adjust, for example, the dielectric anisotropy (Δ∈) and/or refractive index anisotropy (Δn) to be optimum to individual display devices.
A liquid crystal composition having a negative Δ∈ is used in vertical alignment (VA)-type displays, and a liquid crystal composition having a positive Δ∈ is used in horizontal alignment-type displays such as a TN type, an STN type, and an IPS (in-plane switching) type. Another type of driving has been reported, in which molecules of a liquid crystal composition having a positive Δ∈ are vertically aligned in a state in which voltage is not applied, and then a horizontal electric field is applied for performing display. A demand for a liquid crystal composition having a positive Δ∈ has therefore further increased. In all types of driving, however, there have been demands for low driving voltage, a quick response, and a broad range of operation temperature. In other words, a liquid crystal composition having a positive ΔΔ with a large absolute value, a low viscosity (η), and a high nematic phase-isotropic liquid phase transition temperature (Tni) has been demanded. In order to control Δn×d that is a product of Δn and a cell gap (d) to be a predetermined value, the Δn of a liquid crystal composition needs to be adjusted to be in a proper range on the basis of the cell gap. In addition, a quick response is important in liquid crystal display devices applied to television sets or other apparatuses, which generates a need for a liquid crystal composition having a small rotational viscosity (γ1).
Liquid crystal compositions which enable a quick response have been disclosed; for example, such liquid crystal compositions contain a combination of liquid crystal compounds having a positive Δ∈ and represented by Formulae (A-1) to (A-3) and a liquid crystal compound having a neutral Δ∈ and represented by Formula (B). In these liquid crystal compositions, the liquid crystal compound having a positive Δ∈ has a —CF2O— moiety, and the liquid crystal compound having a neutral Δ∈ has an alkenyl group, which is widely known in the field of liquid crystal compositions (see Patent Literatures 1 to 4).

As liquid crystal display devices have come to be used in a broad range of applications, usage and manufacturing thereof have been greatly changed. In order to adapt to such changes, optimization of characteristics other than known basic physical properties has been needed. In particular, a VA type and an IPS type have become popular as liquid crystal display devices utilizing a liquid crystal composition, and this type of display devices even having a very large size (e.g., 50 inches or lager) have been practically used. An increase in the size of substrates has changed a technique for putting a liquid crystal composition between substrates, and a one-drop-fill (ODF) technique has become mainstream in place of a typically employed vacuum injection technique. Dropping of a liquid crystal composition onto a substrate, however, generates droplet stains with the result that display quality is degraded, which has been problematic.
Furthermore, in a process for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device by an ODF technique, a liquid crystal composition needs to be dropped in an amount optimum for the size of the liquid crystal display device. In the case where the amount of a liquid crystal composition to be dropped largely varies from the optimum level, a predetermined balance between a refractive index and a driving electric field in a liquid crystal display device is disrupted, which causes defective display, such as unevenness and defective contrast. In particular, the optimum amount of a liquid crystal composition to be dropped is small in small-size liquid crystal display devices widely used in smartphones which have become popular in recent years, and thus it is difficult even to control a variation from the optimum amount to be in a certain range. Hence, in order to maintain a high production yield of liquid crystal display devices, for instance, a liquid crystal composition needs to be less affected by impact and a rapid pressure change generated on dropping of the liquid crystal composition in a dropping apparatus and to continuously and stably dropped for a long time.
In terms of these circumstances, a liquid crystal composition which is used in active-matrix liquid crystal display devices driven by, for example, a TFT device needs to be developed for satisfying the following requirements in view of a manufacturing process of liquid crystal display devices: enabling the quick response needed for liquid crystal display devices and having a high specific resistance, high voltage holding ratio, and improved stability to external elements such as light and heat.